Career Ladder: Jonathan Schroden

Abstract

1980 A love for math Jonathan Schroden was raised in St. Cloud, Minnesota, with a teacher mother and a social worker father. “Growing up I was always interested in math, and I always liked to read and to learn,” he recalls. “And that still carries through to today.” But Schroden never thought his love of math would form the basis of his career. 1998 Getting a physical chemistry PhD Inspired by a high school physics and chemistry teacher who focused on hands-on learning, Schroden pursued those two subjects in college at the University of Minnesota Duluth. He went on to earn a PhD in physical chemistry at Cornell University, where he studied the basic physics behind chemical reactions that might help improve metal-based catalysts for industry. Originally, Schroden wanted to become a professor of chemistry. But when he was about to finish graduate school, he couldn’t think of a project